US transfers 4 detainees from Gitmo to Saudi Arabia

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Four detainees of the controversial military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been transferred to other countries, the U.S. announced Thursday.

Salem Ahmad Hadi Bin Kanad, Muhammed Rajab Sadiq Abu Ghanim, Abdallah Yahya Yusif Al-Shibli and Muhammad Ali Abdallah Muhammad Bwazir have been transferred to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said in a statement.

Al-Shibli and Bwazir were unanimously approved for transfer by an interagency task force. Kanad and Ghanim were transferred on the recommendation of six departments and agencies comprising a periodic review board.

The move is likely to irk President-elect Donald Trump who has called on the Obama administration to halt detainee transfers.

Trump has spoken favorably of the prison and said he would begin sending new inmates to the site that became a lightning rod for controversy under former President George W. Bush.

The comments stand in stark contrast to the actions of President Barack Obama's outgoing administration, which has worked to close the facility despite congressional opposition to send to the U.S. detainees too dangerous for transfer to third party countries.

With Thursday's transfers 55 inmates remain at Gitmo.

Obama inherited a Gitmo population tallying 242 inmates when he assumed office in 2009.

He reportedly wants to transfer an additional 13 or 14 inmates before he leaves office Jan. 20.